Sun Investigates: Group Homes

A two-month investigation by The Baltimore Sun highlighted troubles at a LifeLine Inc. group home for disabled foster children, where a 10-year-old died in July. The Sun showed that state regulators were left in the dark about significant problems at LifeLine, including the founder’s conviction for felony arson, the company’s financial woes and reports to police about alleged abuse. As a result of that coverage state officials conceded that they have not monitored issues related to financing and corporate governance of health care providers, and launched reforms. The home closed in July.

A federal lawsuit against a Maryland state contractor centered around a disabled foster child who was injured at a troubled group home has been moved from Pennsylvania to Maryland, records show. Last week, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ordered that the lawsuit against LifeLine Inc., and several...

The Maryland attorney general's Medicaid fraud control team is investigating LifeLine Inc., the state contractor that managed a group home for disabled foster children where a 10-year-old Baltimore boy died last summer. Five people who have direct knowledge of the investigation told The Baltimore...

A guardian for a disabled foster child who was injured at a troubled group home last year has sued the state contractor that ran the facility and the Maryland government agencies responsible for supervising its care. The suit alleges that LifeLine Inc. and several state agencies were negligent...

The disabled foster children removed from a troubled Laurel-area group home this summer were placed by Maryland regulators in facilities whose their nurses lacked training for their complex medical needs, inspection records show. Health regulators did not learn of the training lapses — including...

A state senator who has been scrutinizing Maryland's regulation of group homes for disabled foster children is questioning results of an investigation into the death of 10-year-old Damaud Martin. Sen. Joan Carter Conway, who chairs the Senate committee on education, health and environment, called...

Maryland health regulators say they found serious violations at the group home for disabled foster children where a 10-year-old Baltimore boy died in July — including conflicting records on his care, and miscommunication between staff and the emergency responders and medical personnel who labored...

The state medical examiner has ruled that the death of 10-year-old Damaud Martin in a state-regulated group home in July was caused by complications from cerebral palsy and past head trauma — severe conditions stemming from abuse the Baltimore boy suffered more than six years ago. With the medical...